Pattern mechanism for automatic knitting machines



Aug..26, 1930. H, SWINGLEHURST 1,774,408.

PATTERN MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 10, 1929 4 sheetsvsheet 1 1 I I I i I l||l| l I I l I I I I ll r I I l ll Inqenla; I

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PATTERN MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 10,- 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 2' Lfza'z'aylei 1 .98 MC, LWMM Aug. 26, 1930.

PATTERN MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES H. SWINGLEHURST 1,774,408

- Filed Jan. 10 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Hill! i? v HU f 1 I I I 9 I L w: 17 flip elder wi zyklmsi 1930. H. SWINGLEHURST 1,774,408

E'ATTERN MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 10, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 26, 1930 tlll'lE STATES PATENT" ()FFllil HARRY SWINGLEHURST, OF ORAN GE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO SCOTT & WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, 61 NEW YGELL, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F MASSACHUSETTS PATTERN IEECEANISM FOB.- AUTOMIATIC' KNITTING MACHINES Application filed January 10, 1929.

his invention relates to devices for controlling and coordinating motions of parts in a pattern-controlled automatic machine for making textile fabrics, especially the motions relied upon for the timely adjustment or set ing of agencies of a knitting machine requed to be occasionally and seasonably operated during the production of each product or article being made; or the orderly performance of any predetermined cycle of useful activities of the parts of the mechanism to which it is applied.

The knitting instruments proper of hosiery knitting machines, for example, require to be differently positioned or actuated in an orderly and complex sequence to cause the performance upon them of operations on yarn supplied to make in order the parts of fashioned stockings, with or without decoraw tive pattern, or other articles of hosiery.

Artisans in this art are familiar with devices suitable to be controlled automatically for operating on needles of a series of needles to form progressive knittingwaves, to. change the relation of needles to operating cams for chan es of length of stitch, to determine sea sons of progressive knitting waves and seasons of reciprocatory knitting waves for fashioning; to determine the activity or inctivity of series only of the needles, to alter the relations to needl s of sinkers or web holders; to operate yarn-changing or splicing or clamping and severing devices, and to determine picking of need es into or out of action for widening or narrowing; or special operations for knitting articles of hosiery in discontinuous succession with welts and other special structures.

In circular knitting machines satisfactory d vi s for automatically determining and controlling the times and duration of continuous rotary motion or oscillatory reciproing motion between needles, their actuatcams, and yarn-feed devices exist in sev- But the demand for further es in one or more of the typical kinds oration for automatic special function 1 re knitting devices grows with time, and usual pattern-controlling devices provide with great dificulty or not at all for any additypes.

Serial No. 331,573.

tions to the normal activities of the machine. it is customary in the art to provide pattern mechanism for determining the major and necessary machine activities as consequences of one revolution by intermittent angular advances of a main pattern shaft and consequcnt motion of connections to the machine agencies, usually worked by cams on a surface or surfaces moved with the shaft. Every change of activity thus requires a certain angular motion of the main pattern shaft; the number of changes capable of being made is limited to the summation of the angular motions severally required for each change; and one revolution is no longer suiiicient to provide for enough motions for all of the changes required. Such a main pattern shaft is usually itself under the control of a continuall and intermittently advanced primary pattern surface, usually a mutable-link chain worked by a ratchet at intervals of several revolutions of the needle-carrier, and serving to count knit courses between forward racks or angular advances of the main pattern shaft. No change can be provided for except at said intervals of multiples of revolutions.

These conditions have heretofore led to proposals of devices for transfer of operation of devices to be controlled to auxiliary movable surfaces earingcams or other operating elements for connections to the parts to be controlled. The primary pattern chain has itself been utilized to work directly some of the parts to be controlled, as well as to determine motions of the main pattern shaft; and sundry auxiliary pattern surfaces have been arranged for independent operation to work particular groups of connections, such as series of yarn-fingers for yarn-changing to make stripes. The main pattern has been specially moved for timing at intervals of fractions of needle-carrier revolution; for examples the United States Letters Patent to Robert W. Scott, No. 1,148,055 dated July 27, 1915 and No. 1,225,688 dated May 8, 1917 may be consulted. But none of the devices of the kind mentioned of which I am aware is free from the defect of making the orderly control of the devices to be operated dependent on skilled operation. Since it is practically necessary to arrange for manual adjustment of the machine to pick up operation at any point in its set pattern of successive operations (in order to avoid waste when there has been a failure of performance, a replenishment of materials, or some adjustment), whenever the pattern indications depend on two or more pattern surfaces it iteratively eay for a careless o1 orator to disturb coordination between them, so that the machini often does not perform as intended.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a pattern mechanism for knitting machines capable of controlling a plurality of different operations of the machine instrnments during predetermined cycle, in which mot-ions of the main pattern shaft are conserved by delegating repeated suhordi auxiliary operations to control by an i iary pattern surface or surfaces; and ie vide for ope 'ating the main and. airiry surfaces in such relation to each other that careless or ignorant interference with lilil'flh ally controlla le agencies of the machine will not disturb the desired coordination of mov ment among the re *ective pattern surfaces.

' to provide Another object of the invention is for the control of controllable oper tive elements of the machine severally by two or more different pattern surfaces, so that the control of said elements may be by one or by another of said pattern surfaces. or by both in conjunction as desired. objectto provide, in a machine hay a priinar pattern surface movable intern ls of numbers of revolutirms of a needle-carrier, means for operating a main a an auxiliary pattern surface atalternate inte s, the beginning of operation of either su :face being controller. by said primary sur co; the operation of either surface alone preventing' the indep ent operation of the ot ier u l the comp tion of a redetermined, cyc. the pattern surface in oper taken place. A further obi L r-rnethe.

tion is to provide, in a kni tine 11 tended to make heel ortec poclu. equeiwes of several different narrowing i-denl operations, for controlling by an automatic 1 cams, 1l(ll 3 'COl1tlSl lutch devices or other rned in i e; such a way as to enable a;

. of r rrrow pattern device sritc. lers, motion-changin g c controllable parts co] co heel or too, in such useful number. more and wide? Jun; L making of heels or motions only, or complete suspension of motion, of the main pattern surfaces of the machine.

The, invention will now he es plained in connection with the accompanying drawings showing an embodiment preferred forms only, and in which Fig. 1 is afront elevation of an automatic i ll'li circular hoisery knitting machine exemplifying an application of the invention;

Fig. 2 a right side elevation of devices shown in l on an en urged scale;

Fig. 3 is a left side elevation of parts nily of the device;

Fig. i is a detail in plai above the hot plate of the knitting heat Fig. 5 is a detail leit side elevation o 5 parts shown in Fi %l-.

Refer-rug now to Figs. 1 and 2, the illustr: tive embodiment of the invention is shown as adapted for use with the familiar Scott & lVilliams circular fashioning stocking; hi1 machine, but is applicable without chan character to other kinds of driving and controlling devices for other textile or other knitting machines. The machine illust. is driven by a belt on one of the pulleys J. or P to either of which (or to a loose pulley P") the belt maybe automatically shifted hy a belt shipper, not shown, controlled by a cam drum O5 and sliding rod 93. Pulleys P and P is respectively fast to inner and outer coucentric tubular shafts having their axial cen ter at 32, Fig. lVhen pulley l. is driven, a pinion, not shown, fast on its tubular shall? drives a larger p ane year 65 fast on a secondary shaft bearing in the machine 35 a gear larger than pinion fast aft 3. at a higher rate than said shaf t 39 is driven by the pulley P which is fast on shaft 39. Said rotary driving pinion is integral with or attached to one member of a clutch, thus adapt ed to be rotated at different rates hy pulley P or P the other member of which clutch keyed to and slides on a solid driving shaft concentric with and having a bearing in in hular shaft This driving shaft, not shown, as usual carries a bevel gear for driving the driven element, sr. *h as the needle cylinder, of the knitting; head, and has upon it a pinion 35 m shing with a gear sector and integral ....h or attached to a clutch face adapted to 'e the sliding element the clutch having a 'raine, and fast on shaft 65 meshes with a rotary drivi on tubular shaft 39, to drive 88, at an angular distance from pin '77 of nearly a right angl which pin 88 takes into a hole in and actuates a pawl 87 relied upon to move the primary pattern surface made as a mutable-link chain C, continually at intervals corresponding to back or idle strokes of pawl 82. The chain C is moved by a sprocket 8% integral with or attached to the ratchet 86, loose on shaft 80, for pawl 87. ihe ratio of the gearing is usually such that sector 75 and the pawls 87 and 82 malre each one complete oscillation to each four revolutions of the driving bevel gear and rotary parts of the knitting head.

When the sliding element of the clutch on the driving shaft is shifted to connect pinon to said shaft, the 'nitting head may scillate through an arc of approximately as driven by sector and pinion 35.

The clutch may be shifted automatically by a sliding fork 92 having a follower 89 for clutch-shifter cams on drum fast on shaft 80 and fast to rack-wheel 81. The pawl 82 is controlled to actuate or not actuate the raclowheel 81 and shaft 80 and mechanism worlred from shaft 80 by a chain-reading pawl-controlling rocker on shaft 98 having a finger piece 83 and the pawlcontroller tail 83, the nose of pawl 82 being broad enough to 7 do on the tail 88 except when lifting mol 3 tion by a lug on primary pattern C depresses tail 88 to let the pawl into contact with racl wheel 81. The shape of tail 83 and the posi tion of its center of motion are such as to permit the pawl to engage wheel 81 through I; a greater or less angular motion, accordinr C) to the leight of the lug on chain C. The rack-wheel 81 and shaft 80 must be moved through different angles at different times duri g each stocking; it is customary to provide tooth-depressions in wheel 81 at distances apart corresponding to these angular motions, the pawl-controller 83 being relied upon only to prevent too great a throw when tooth-depressions on wheel 81 for a succession of short motions are provided. A relatively large angle of motion is desirable on going on and coming off the heel and toe knitting, since during these motions automatic control of the motion change to or from reciprocation, the successive adjustment of driving speed, change of the positions of switch cams, yarn-feeding devices, stitch length devices, web-holder devices, the control of picking mechanism and other ad justments must be effected as a consequence of motion of shaft 80. Many of these adj ustments in the machine referred to are derived from followers and connections to them worked by cams on a drum geared at 121, 122, 128 to move with shaft 80. F or certain special purposes the rotary system 80, 120, 121, 122, 123 may be moved independently of rack-wheel 81 by devices, not shown, to take short steps within an angle of advance by pawl 82 and rack-wheel 81 in time with the passage by the knitting cams of several pan ticular segments of the needle cylinder; or to change the position of the needle cylinder angularly in respect to rotative position of the shaft 32, 39 by special adjustment of clutch-shifter 92.

It will be observed that the sum of angular movements of substantial extent sufficient to work followers by cams of practicable shape capable of being made by shaft 80 during one revolution, representing one article made by the machine, is strictly limited. It is in fact insufiicient for all of the adjustments required by desirable features to be incorporated in the article. For an example, in many types of stocking at heel or toe or elsewhere it is often desirable repeatedly and successively to narrow and widen by control of the operation of pickers or switch cams; motions of shaft 80 to control the pickers or move needle-cams for this purpose must take place within the angle of motion between operative shifts of the motion-changing clutch, and there is not room for any substantial motion of shaft 80 within this angle for more than one or two such adjustments.

Heretofore good practice has avoided delegating such motions, which must be exact, to auxiliary pattern devices; heretofore mechanism has not been available to coordinate the control impulses of two or more pattern surfaces capable of the necessary effect in such a way as to secure an exact operative agreement between the several patterns; especially it has not beeen possible to provide for the manual resetting of the primary pattern without endangering coordinate operation of the main and auxiliary pa tern surfaces and connections.

Accordin to the present invention, the main pattern control represented by the shaft 80 and things driven by it, in turn controlled by the primary pattern surface C, may still be relied upon for all of its customary functions, but it is provided to supplement its indications by the operation from time to time of an auxiliary pattern surface and connections to the controllable agencies of the machine, or any desired number of them it is also provided to prevent actuation of the main pattern device until the auxiliary pattern device shall have completed a predetermined cycle of operations; and it is also provided that the auxiliary pattern surface shall be held out of operation whenever the main pattern surface is in condition to 5perate, and while the primary pattern surface is being reset or manually adjusted.

For these and other purposes the auxiliary pattern may comprise adrum conveniently mounted anywhere in relation to the driving devices for the machine, as shown, on a projecting end of the shaft 80, on which the drum 150 has freedom of motion limited by contact of a spring stop 151 in a bore in a dog 152 keyed on shaft 80 with opposite face. of interior teeth 153, 154 preferably formed on annular segments adjustably fastened in that one of them approaches the needle cy1- inder as the other moves away from it. Cam 191 may be carried by an arm 192 pivoted at 198 and having an adjustable connection at 19a with a carrier arm 195 pivoted at 199. A linkage of this type produces the result of connecting the cams so as to move one radially inward on outward motion of the other. As illustrated, the arm 192 may be operated by an extension 200 having a fork takingover an eccentric pin 201 of a vertical rock shaft 202 having an arm 203, Fig. 3, operated by a link 210 loosely pivoted at 211 to an arm 205 and at 204 to arm 203 and controlled by motion of arm 205 with the shaft 177. In a preferred form, the time of one extent of the motion of the vertical rock shaft 202 is controlled from the drum 120, for example by cams on the end of the drum 120 shown at 206. A pin 207 adjustable on the arm 205 project-sv into the path of the cam 206 from which path it may be removed or into which path it may be placed by operation of the shaft 17 7 If desired, motions by the shaft 177 may be relied upon solely to operate such a connection as the vertical rock shaft 202 and the cams operated by it. Motion by cam 206 acting on pin 207 is in a direction to lift indicator 17 9, Fig. 2, away from the auxiliary drum 150.

it will be observed that connections such as the shafts 176 and 177, orany other type of connection, to any kind of device requiring to be positioned or adjusted at a particular time, may be relied upon to transmit the repeated effect of cams on the drum 150, and that during a cycle of motions of the pattern devices and connections the main pattern surface is not only not operated by but is prevented from being operated by the primary pattern surface C; whereas the auxiliary pat tern drum 150 is held immobile until brought into action by the main pattern shaft as controlled by the primary pattern surface C for another cycle of its operations.

I claim:

1. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pattern surface and a main pattern surface, and means controlled by the primary pattern surface for actuating the main pattern surface; an auxiliary pattern surface and means for advancing the same adapted to be brou ht into operation by a part moving with the main pattern surface, and means for preventing actuation of the main pattern surface during advance of the auxiliary pattern surface by said means for actuating the same.

2. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pat tern surface and a main pattern surface, and means controlled by the primary pattern surface for intermittently moving the main pattern surface, an auxiliary pattern surface and means for advancing the same adapted to be brought into operation by a part moving with the main pattern surface, means preventing actuation of the main pattern surface during further actuation of the auxiliary pattern surface, and means moving with the auxiliary pattern surface for initiating further actuation of said main pattern surface.

3. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having in combination a main pattern shaft and means for driving said shaft, means thereon for positioning operative agencies vof the machine at times, an auxiliary pattern mechanism and an operating connection Worked thereby, and means for driving said auxiliary pattern mechanism independently of said pattern shaft, said means for driving said shaft and for driving said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally including means causing cessation of further motion caused by said driving means respectively, said pattern shaft and said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally having thereon means each for causing to be initiated a further period of driving actuation of the other pattern.

t. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having in combination a main pattern shaft and means for driving said shaft, means thereon for positioning operative agencies of the machine at times, an auxiliary pattern mechanism and an operating connection worked thereby, and means for driving said auxiliary pattern mechanism independently of said pattern shaft, said means for driving said shaft and for driving said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally including means causing cessation of further motion caused by said. driving means respectively, said .pattern shaft and said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally having thereon means-each for moving the other to cause its driving means to initiate a further period of driving actuation.

5. Pattern mechanism for textileunachin'es having in combination means for driving a driven element of the machine in a constant rotary direction and for driving saidelement reciprocally at times, a main pattern shaft and means for rotating said shaft intermittently, means thereon for actuating apart to cause change from'one said kindsof motion to another, an auxiliary pattern mechanism and operating connectionsto be worked thereby during reciprocal motion of the said driven element, and means for moving said auxiliary pattern mechanism independently of said pattern shaft, said means for rotating said shaft and for moving said auxiliary pattern mechanism severali including means causing cessation after a predetermined motion thereof of further motion of said pattern means, said shaft and said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally including parts each operating on the other to initiate a further period of actuation.

6. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pattern surface and a main pattern surface and means controlled by the primary pattern surface for actuating the main pattern surface through a predetermined extent of motion; an auxiliary pattern surface and means for advancing the same adapted to be brought into operation by a part moving with the main pattern surface and adapted initially to advance said auxiliary surface prior to cessation of its extent of motion; means preventing actuation of said main pattern surface during prior actuation of the auxiliary pattern surface, and means moving with said auxiliary surface for advancing the main pattern surface to initiate an extent of its motion.

7. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pattern surface and a main pattern surface, means for continually actuating the primary pattern surface, a controller and means controlled thereby on motion of said primary pattern surface for intermittently actuating the main pattern surface; means moving with said main pattern surface for rendering control by said controller ineffective, an auxiliary pattern surface and means for advancing the same during cessation of motion of said main surface adapted to be brought into operation by a part moving with the main pattern sur ace.

8. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pattern surface and a main pattern surface, a controller adapted to be positioned by said primary pattern surface and a pawl controlled by said controller for intermittently actuating the main pattern surface at predetermined times, an auxiliary pattern surface and means for advancing the same adapted to be brought into operation by a part moving with the main pattern surface, means pre venting actuation of the main pattern surface by said pawl during actuation of the auxiliary pattern surface, and means moving with the auxiliary pattern surface for withdrawing said actuation preventing means to initiate further actuation of said main pattern surface.

9. Pattern mechanism for knit-ting machines having in combination a main pattern shaft and means for rotating said shaft intermittently, means thereon for positioning operative agencies of the machine at times, an auxiliary pattern mechanism and an operat ing connection worked thereby and means for driving said auxiliary pattern mechanism independently of said. pattern shaft, said means for rotating said shaft and for driving said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally including means causing cessation of further motion of said parts, said shaft and said auxiliary pattern mechanism severally including parts each for causing the other to initiate a further period of actuation, and means for Working said operating connection moving in unison with said main pattern shaft.

10. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines having in combination means for driving a driven element of the machine in a constant rotary direction and means for driving said element reciprocally at times, a main pattern shaft and pattern devices moving in unison therewith, and means for rotating said shaft intermittently, means thereon for actuating a part to cause change from one of said lainc s of motion to another, an auxiliary pattern mechanism and operating connections to be worked thereby during reciprocal motion of said driven element, and means for moving said auxiliary pattern mechanism independently of said pattern shaft, said means for rotating said shaft and for moving said airiliary pattern mechanism severally including means causing cessation i r a predetermined motion thereof of furor motion of said pattern means, said shaft said ant-iliary pattern mechanism sever .illy inchiiding parts each for moving the other to initiate a further period of actuation, said operating connections having a part posh tioned and adapted to be operated by said main pattern devices, whereby said connections are operated. at different times by said main and said auxiliary pattern devices severally.

11. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pattern surface and a main pattern surface and means controlled by the primary pattern sur face for intermittently actuating the main pattern surface; an auxiliary pattern surface and means for advancing the same, said means for actuating the main pattern surface being adapted to be brought into operation and prevented from further operation by a part moving with the main pattern surface, said part being positioned to prevent actuation of the main pattern surface during actuation of the auxiliary pattern surface.

12. Pattern mechanism for textile machines having therein in combination a primary pattern surface and a main pattern surface and means controlled by the primary pattern surface for intermittent y actuating the main pattern surface; an aulil ary pattern surface and means for advancing the same, said means for actuating the main pattern surface being adapted to be brought into operation and prevented from further operation by a part moving with the main pattern surface, said part being positioned to prevent actuation of the main pattern surface during actuation of the auxiliary pattern surface, and means moving with said auxiliary pattern surface for positioning said part to permit further actuation of said main pattern surface after a. predetermined motion of said auxiliary pattern surface.

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13. In a knitting machine having operative agencies at the knitting head for determining the motions of needles, and devices for causing rotatory and reciprocatory relative motion between a needle-carrier and said operative agencies, the combination of a main pattern surface adapted to be operated at times during said rotatory motion, and an auxiliary pattern surface adapted to be operated at times during said reciprocatory motion, of transmitting connections between said pattern surfaces severally and one of said agencies adapted to be operated from and by either of said pattern surfaces.

14;. In a knitting machine having operative agencies at the knitting head for determining the motions of needles, and devices for causing rotatory and reciprocatory relative motion between a needle-carrier and said operative agencies, the combination of a continually operated primary pattern surface, a main pattern surface adapted to be operated at times controlled by said primary surface during said rotatory motion, and an auxiliary pattern surface adapted to be operated at times during said reciprocatory motion, of transmitting connections between said main and auxiliary pattern surfaces severally and one of said agencies adapted to be operated from and by either of said main and auxiliary pattern surfaces, and means on said main pattern surface for predetermining change of rotatory and reciprocatol'y motion each to the other kind of motion.

15. In a knitting machine pattern mechanism, the combination of a main pattern shaft and an auxiliary pattern drum, means rotating with each of said parts adapted to engage and rotate the other in one direction of relative motion between them, means severally for actuating said drum and shaft severally adapted to be brought to an inoperative state at a predetermined rotatory position of said drum and said shaft respectively. each after an angle of advance including a position at which the said means adapted to engage has engaged and moved both said drum and said shaft, whereby alternative motion of said drum and shaft severally each by itsown actuating means through a predetermined an le of motion is caused.

16. In combination, in a pattern mechanism for knitting machines, a main pattern surface and an auxiliary pattern surface, operating means for said pattern surfaces, controllable agencies adapted to be positioned difi'erently at different times dur-- ing operation of the machine, a system of transmitting connections each adapted to be moved by one of said pattern surfaces to position one of said agencies, and pattern transmitting devices adapted to be moved by the other pattern surface to operate said connections, said pattern surfaces severally having thereon means for causing cessation of its own operation and initiation of the operation of the other pattern surface.

Signed by me at Jamaica, Queens County, New York, this 7th day of January, 1929. HARRY SVVINGLEHURST. 

